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Will Deepen the Deprivation

Is it too much for seniors to expect to have their property taxes held to a reasonable and affordable level? Do the public employees and school lobbies have no regard for the increasing number of struggling people who pay a big portion of their meager incomes on property taxes?

I hear lots of lip service claiming to understand and care, but then I see people defending an 11 percent increase in Clinton’s property taxes when most comparable towns get by on 3- to 5 percent tax increases.

This will force many people living on the edge over the cliff. It will crush young families who are already struggling to feed and cloth their children, but the PTA claims this increase as they always do is needed for the kids. An 11 percent property tax increase will deepen the deprivation many of these children are already suffering.

The people on the boards of Education, Selectmen, and Finance seem to be disconnected from these realities. They claim they have done all they can do to responsibly reduce spending, but they have not adjusted to either the grim realities of a declining, aging, and financially deteriorating population and the cuts in state aid. Business as usual when circumstances are extraordinary is irresponsible and morally depraved.

The elected officials are incapable of making tough decisions unless voters force them to make them by voting “No.”

Anyone who really cares about the wellbeing of their most vulnerable neighbors will vote “No” on May 10. Only the self-interested, self-indulgent, and permissive will insist on passing an 11 percent tax increase.

I encourage your readers to not let this unconscionable increase in taxes be forced on their strapped Clinton neighbors and to vote “No” May 10.

Paul Donoski

Clinton